Sandpiper CEO, Tony O’Neill said: “As a locally owned company, this is great news for Sandpiper in that it consolidates our position as the largest retailer in the island and opens up trade in a number of parishes that we currently don’t operate in.

“I think it’s also good news for Costcutter’s customers. We’re intending to increase the choice and range of products and our greater buying power means we can significantly lower prices – in some cases the reductions will be as much as 20 per cent."

The company says that no redundancies are expected as a result of Sandpiper’s acquisition, with employees transfers over to SandpiperCI having the same employment terms, rates, staff discounts and existing employee benefits.